A marijuana break during the work day? That could be the future for California workers, according to this ad, if the state approves Proposition 19. Corbis

October 28, 2010

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The Audio Clip: As part of a $250,000 effort to sway voters into voting against Proposition 19 — the California initiative that seeks to legalize marijuana — the California Chamber of Commerce has been running a 60-second radio ad that purports to expose the dangers of the drug. (Listen to the audio, below.) "Imagine coming out of surgery and the nurse caring for you was high," the ad says, before warning that the proposed law "is worded so broadly that it would hurt California's economy and raise business costs" in part because "employees would be allowed to come to work high."The Reaction: By "echoing some of the more bizarre anti-pot themes more common in the early part of the 20th century," anti-marijuana advocates are "veering off into paranoid and delusional terrain," says says Ryan Grim at The Huffington Post." This "misleading" spot also "reflects desperation." But the Chamber's spokeswoman, Denise Davis, says that "when people understand what would happen in the workplace when this becomes law, they are inclined to vote no." Listen to the anti-marijuana ad: